Inspirational Style {Classy Vintage}

 

Ohhhh I love everything in this  collage – the home pieces and the outfit! It’s so girly and pretty, with the lace and sparkle! Big fan right here! The outfit, with the shape of the dress, lace, and light blush tones have a vintage flair but the jacket and shoes definitely bring it up to ‘now’! If I wore this outfit (which I must!) and had hair that I could actually manage to do myself (all I seem to be able to handle is a straightener.) I would wear it up in a loose and casual updo or down with long pretty waves pulled back from my face a bit. Ahh to have hair like Lauren Conrad (I’m watching RetroMTV and the Hills is on..yay! Does anyone else miss this show?)

To find all of these pieces…click below! (And tell me what you think about this vintage inspiration!)

Makeup Madness! {Abby’s Prom!}

My sister Abby (I like to call her Gail too, to annoy her of course!) had her senior prom this past Friday!! I may be biased but I think she looked absolutely GORGEOUS. I treated her to get her hair done (I did it last year and let’s just say, although it looked GREAT, we definitely butted heads along the way) and then I did her make up! First I’ll show you a picture from last years Junior prom:

I wish I had a close up of her hair and makeup last year but alas, I do not. I also would like to say I picked out her prom dress (of course she had to approve and LOVE it, which she did!) Yes, last year I re-lived my high school proms vicariously through my sister. I did the SAME thing this year…

Below – I was TRYING to take a “before” picture at the hair salon but she kept fighting me so to annoy her further here is my “paparazzi” shot!

Gosh, I should OBVIOUSLY take up photography… since I’m such a natural (sarcasm, of course). Some more paparazzi shots of her getting her hair done. (Her hairdresser caught me once so I had to be more stealthy for these shots)

I know, I know.. that is some BEAUTIFUL photography. Since I haven’t had a real camera in about 3 years, I had to use my phone.

Can you tell she was getting annoyed by me taking pictures? Well.. now it was time to do makeup! For her skin we just used  her bareMinerals original foundation and warmth as bronzer. Then some light pink blush to add pretty color to her cheeks! Also some highlighter on the bridge of her nose and and inner corner of her eyes. Now, the eyes is where we have some issues. She is obsessed with eyeliner. Like she doesn’t go a day without heavy eyeliner. I told her she should tone it down a bit for prom but she wouldn’t listen to me (Would you listen to your sister?) Then a wee bit of shimmery gold eyeshadow and a darker brown around the outer corners. Also a wee bit of very light pale pink shadow under her eyebrows.  A dab of rosy pink chapstick (Yes, chapstick!) on her lips.. This is the final product:

Thanks to my poor camera quality and the fact I didn’t really set up the lighting to be perfect (we had places to be!) there are some shadows that make the eye makeup look a bit uneven but it wasn’t!

My beautiful sister in her blueeee dress (and her best friend, Nicole, laughing in her pretty white and gold dress):

It was so sunny out! No matter where you stood there was SUN! (Gorgeous but bad for these pictures!) And one last one of their sparkly shoes:

Seeing these pictures makes me want to dress up for something SO bad.. Anyone having a black tie event they want to invite me to, please? Cocktail-dress events work too!

Stay tuned next Monday and I’ll post all of the makeup we used and where you can find it for yourself!

Makeup Madness {Taaz}

Woahhh. I’ve been so busy with TRYING to finish school, I haven’t even had time to work on yesterday’s Save on Kate or today’s Makeup Madness. Today will be a quick one! Have you ever wanted to try a hairstyle or color but not sure if you’d like it? What about some coool makeup you’d want to try and see how it looks? Well… without going to buy ALL of it, only for it to not look good, you can try it virtually on taaz.com. You can upload your own picture or use one of their models, if you are just playing around. Here’s a screenshot before starting “the makeover.”

And a side by side before and after:

Very cool, right? There are so many hair lengths, styles, and colors you can choose!

There’s also a place to find great make up deals, ask questions and give advice, and see some cool trends:

Have you ever used Taaz? Whatchya think? All the screenshots above are from taaz.com! Check it out!

Make-up Madness!

Ahhh – the dreaded time when I realize that I MUST clean out my purse. Must. I mean I have three main bags that I rotate and all of them are full of…crap. Of course, your ID, money, and cards are a must. As are pens (for me! I always need pens!) But – I’ve decided that make-up/beauty wise, these are ALL one needs…well, for now.

BOBBY vintage style jewelry
$12 – etsy.com

Lip gloss
$7.50 – bathandbodyworks.com

Victoria s Secret body moisturizer
$4 – victoriassecret.com

Pocketbac Holder
$0.50 – bathandbodyworks.com

Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets
$4.79 – drugstore.com

1) Cute bobby pins. My hair can get crazy so I like to have some cute bobby pins on hand to pin back my long ‘bangs’ on those windy days or just add a cute touch to one of my not-so-fab outfits. These vintage style pins from JacarandaDesigns on etsy are SO perfect for this season.

2) Hand Sanitizer. You may not know this but I worked at Bath and Body Works for two years, as an associate and sales leader. I am OBSESSSSSED with their products; my sister LITERALLY went shopping in a box of my stuff and I didn’t even realize things were missing until she told me. So – Bath and Body Works pocketbacs are a must for me. I also love the holders (some for $0.50!!) to clip on to your keys (mine have one with a British flag on the back!) or the side of your bag. They may look ugly but they are SO incredibly handy and make it so easy to “clean” your hands when a sink is not an option!

3) Lip gloss/balm. One thing I love about the CO Bigelow line of glosses at Bath and Body Works (like this Ultra Mentha Lipshine!) is that not only do they add some shine to your lips but because of the peppermint oil, it also is a bit of a breath refresher! Yum! They also have ones with a tint of color that are fabbbb! (I like light pink, too!)

4) Moisturizer! Currently, I am carrying a mini EDT of one of my fave scents because I am not in love with any of my hand creams right now. I do love the Amber Romance scent at Victoria’s Secret and to be honest (oh this is embarrassing since they are B&BW sister store!) I didn’t know (or forgot) they sold travel size moisturizers. If you want something without scent, as to not clash with your perfume, B&BW makes a great hand cream with paraffin that locks in those moisturizers! (And their 1 oz minis surprisingly last a long time!)

5) Oil Absorbing Sheets. Personally, I don’t have a favorite brand of these, although I have used mostly these Clean&Clear ones in the past. I think they are great for a quick dab after work, before class, etc. etc. just to clean up and rejuvenate your look a bit! I know that my skin (mainly forehead) gets a little shiny during the day so these are a necessity for me, especially if I don’t have time to reapply or fix my make up before I run out again!

So there it is. My five most important beauty items for your “everyday bag.” Now.. I just need to clean out my bag and remind myself that this is all I REALLY need! I can do this!! Will you? What’s in your bag?

 

Make-up Madness!

One of the things I hate when plucking my eyebrows is how long it can take! Even if you’re just trying to keep up in between waxes, if you have the wrong tweezers it can take a little while to get them perfect.  With some of them, it takes a couple tries to get a grasp on some of the shorter hairs. Like I said… if you have the wrong tweezers.

   The first time I tried Tweezerman tweezers was my freshman year in college. I never kept up with my eyebrows in between waxes because it hurt so bad and took more time than I cared to give. Well, since I bought my first pair of Tweezermans (you can buy them at Sephora or on the Tweezerman website) I have never gone back to the drugstore brands. They may be a little more expensive (ranging from $12.50 to $40) but let me tell you, they are completely worth it. I bought the mini slanted tweezers for, I believe, $15 a couple of years ago and “upgraded” to the longer size in pink for $20. to  My 17 year old sister even begged me to buy her one for Christmas, so I did.
There’s not much you can say about the actual use except that the slanted head really grasps on to even the shortest hairs and you don’t have to try multiple times to pull them out. Another great thing is that they come in a variety of colors. My make up bag area can become a hot mess on the weekends or when I’m in a hurry to get ready and I always seem to lose things. But, my Tweezerman’s are light pink so they are easy to find against all my other make up. That also comes in handy if they’re on the bottom of a big, cluttered purse. So, do you own a pair? What do you think?

Photo Credits: Sephora

Make-up Madness!

My Make-up Bag by emilycourtright1

For years I only used Bare Minerals foundation, warmth, and whatever eyeliner and mascara I picked up at the drug store. I found that after awhile I wasn’t getting the coverage I needed (wanted) so I went scurried on over to Sephora and talked to the sales lady who helped me decide what I wanted and was good for me. I had heard that the Make Up Forever HD foundation gave really nice coverage so I opted for that. Unfortunately, they didn’t have in my shade (#115, for us pale folk). She gave me a sample of some of the foundation in my shade (from the tester) which actually lasted about six uses. Instead, I bought the Smashbox “Complexion Perfection Kit” which included their HD foundation, a travel photo finish primer, HD Concealer, and Halo face powder. After trying out both the Smashbox and Make Up Forever foundations, I liked the coverage the Make Up Forever gave me so after I ran out of the Smashbox (2 months!) I ran back to Sephora to buy the Make Up Forever. Luckily, they had it in my shade this time and I’ve been sooo happy with the results.

Smashbox makeup
$20 – smashbox.com

Smashbox Illuminating Powder
$20 – nordstrom.com

Bare Escentuals: All-Over Face Color
$19 – sephora.com

Primer | Smashbox Cosmetics
$36 – smashbox.com

Face Powder | Smashbox Cosmetics
$29 – smashbox.com

Make Up For Ever foundation
makeupforever.com

MAC Eyeshadow – Beauty Marked
MacCosmetics

AVON – Mascara
avon.com

Now, all of this may seem like A LOT of make up for an every day routine but I don’t wear it all every day. The only things I wear on a daily basis is the foundation, mascara, and MAC eyeshadow. The MAC eyeshadow I actually use with a slanted brush as eye liner. I lost my eye liner one day and desperately needed some so I picked up a brush and used the MAC eyeshadow in Beauty Marked and loved it. Been using it ever since.  The only time I wear ALL of these at once, maybe with some eyeshadow, is on those ‘important nights.’ You know what I mean – date night, out with the girls – when I really want to dress up and go all out.

Out of ALL of these, I must say the BareMinerals All Over Face Color (Warmth) is probably my fave. I’m almost running out and keep putting off running over to Sephora to buy some more. It is NOT as dark as it looks in the picture. Instead, it really gives this nice, soft glow with a hint of color to really brighten up your face and a little goes a loooong way. Do you have a favorite product? What’s in your make-up bag?